


Seeking Comfort

by JinxedAmbitions



Series: AK One Shots [5]
Category: Animal Kingdom (TV)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Grief/Mourning, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-01
Updated: 2018-06-01
Packaged: 2019-05-16 16:44:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14815088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JinxedAmbitions/pseuds/JinxedAmbitions
Summary: Deran's upset, so he seeks out one of the only people he knows will give him comfort without any strings attached.





	Seeking Comfort

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a short thing I've wanted to write since watching the season 3 premiere. It contains spoilers for the premiere, so maybe don't read if you haven't seen it or don't want to see spoilers. 
> 
> This takes place right after the events of episode 3x01.

“Baz is dead."

It wasn’t the sort of revelation Adrian was expecting when Deran showed up at his apartment at three in the morning, looking crushed.  It was especially surprising since Deran couldn’t have known he was home yet, which either meant he came hoping Adrian would be home, or he came despite knowing he might find the place empty.

Adrian also wasn’t expecting the hug that followed as Deran practically stumbled into his personal space.  Adrian caught him in what was probably the most gentle contact they’d shared since they were kids. He felt like he was holding a cracked vase, praying it didn’t suddenly crumble in his hands.

“I’ve got you,” Adrian whispered, pulling Deran inside and facing little resistance from Deran.

“Someone shot him,” Deran mumbled as they walked to the bedroom.  

Adrian didn’t say anything.  Deran wouldn’t appreciate the customary “I’m sorry.” It would just seem hollow to him.  Smurf had bred that sort of empathy out of them to isolate them from everyone but family.  If no one could understand what the Codys were going through, then they’d only have each other, most importantly Smurf, to rely on.

For a fleeting moment, Adrian wondered how Smurf would handle this, but he dashed that poisonous thought from his mind.  Smurf would twist even this to her advantage, gaslighting her children into believing whatever lies best suited her in regards to Baz’s death.  Just as she had done with everything else.

It had to be enough that Deran came to him.  It had to be enough that Deran had stepped outside the safety of family and wound up on his doorstep.   Deran would show him what he needed even if he didn’t realize he was doing it. 

“Pope’s going nuts...more than usual. He and Baz...they took care of each other.  Pope did time for him, and now he’s dead. And Craig…” At the mention of his favored brother, Deran cracked.  The shell-shocked voice became a full, agonized moan. 

Adrian wasn’t certain if Deran was imagining what it would be to lose Craig or if something about Craig’s reaction to Baz’s death broke him.  It didn’t really matter though. It was just the thing that tipped him over the edge he was already on.

“Craig’s headed off with Renn again.  Things are too heavy here,” Deran said, touching his lips like he could literally hold the emotion inside if he tried hard enough.  

“He’s not leaving you, Deran,” Adrian said, realizing that Deran felt abandoned even if he was unwilling to admit it to Craig.

“I know,” Deran muttered. “He’d wanted to leave before…” He paused, unable to say it aloud again.  “Doesn’t stop it from sucking.”

Adrain sat beside him on the bed, keeping his space not because he wanted to, but because he wasn’t certain that Deran wouldn’t lash out.  So, he was taken completely by surprise when Deran leaned over and placed his head in Adrian’s lap.

Adrian’s eyes widened for the briefest moment as Deran seemed to burrow into him, seeking comfort.  He pulled himself together quickly before Deran could think the contact was unwelcome, and he let his hands fall to Deran’s shoulder and hair, stroking him soothingly.

“He’s dead,” Deran all but whimpered as he clutched at Adrian’s legs.

Adrian gave up trying to figure out what he was supposed to do and hauled Deran into his arms as he laid back on the bed.

Deran didn’t resist Adrian’s move, instead he shifted up the bed with him until they were lying side-by-side.  Adrian faced him, letting their legs twine together, and pulling their chests close until they shared each other's breath.  Deran’s came in hitching gasps as his arms wrapped around Adrian’s waist.

“We fought...the last time I saw him, we were fighting.  All of us.” Deran’s words were hardly audible between them, and the choked emotion behind it tore at Adrian’s heart.  This wasn’t a side of Deran he saw very often.

“It’s not your fault, Deran,” Adrian promised, pushing several rogue strands of hair out of Deran’s face.  

“I’m sorry,” Deran mumbled, pressing his runny nose to Adrian’s neck.  

Adrian wrapped his hand around the back of Deran’s head and cradled it to him.  Then he wrapped his other arm around the small of Deran’s back, letting it rest beneath his t-shirt, giving them skin-to-skin contact.

“It’s going to be okay,” Adrian whispered, rubbing small circles at the base of Deran’s spine.

Deran clung to him even tighter as he continued to purge the emotions he’d undoubtedly allowed to build up inside for longer than Baz had been dead. The emotional storm lasted for hours, and Adrian weathered it silently, continuing to cradle Deran to him until he ran out of tears.  

The sun was slowly rising when Adrian finally felt the tension slowly bleed from Deran’s body, and sleep took him.  Adrian remained awake a while longer, just listening to the quiet cadence of Deran’s breathing. 

Baz was dead, and Smurf was in prison.  Things were changing rapidly, and it worried Adrian.  Deran was just beginning to get settled into himself, and Adrian feared this could drag him right back into the thick of the family drama.  

Adrian felt himself tear up at the thought of losing Deran.  It was always a possibility if a job went wrong, but this made it all the more real.

Eventually, Adrian fell asleep as well, and when he woke he was alone on the bed as though the previous night had never happened.  There was only a message on his phone to confirm it hadn’t been a hyper realistic nightmare.

Deran: Sorry.  I had to get to the bar for a delivery.  I didn’t want to wake you because you probably needed the sleep after dealing with me.

A separate message, sent nearly twenty minutes later simply read: Thanks.

Adrian smiled as he put his phone down.  _ Thanks. _  Maybe Deran wouldn’t return to is old ways.  


End file.
